they want to snow why another crew locked onto a helicopter. japanese and u.s. officials are urging the chinese to ensure such accidents don't happen again. a chinese navy aimed at a helicopter in mid-january.

japa controls the islands. china and taiwan claim them. >> translator: it's extremely regrettable that such a unilateral provocative action has been taken. we will strongly urge the chinese to exercise restraint and not make the situation any worse. >> a spokesperson said she learned about the incident through the media. japanese government officials say the chinese are trying to give the impression they're not behind the incidents. the u.s. defense secretary says it could have had grave consequences. l leon panetta says it could inflame intentions.

>> they have to be part of family of nations in that region working gether. >> panetta said the united states, south korea and japan will do everything possible to ensure their territories are secu secure. he called on china to avoid antagonizing other nations. the former secretary of state said u.s. officials oppose any unilateral moves aimed at undermining japan's control. as north korea prepares to test another nuclear weapon, t south's top military commander has warned that yan may be trying to develop a hydrogen bomb. the chairman of south korea's joint chiefs of staff was speaking to parliament's defense committee on wednesday. he said the military believes

pyongyang may detonated a boosted fission weapon, which has greater explosive power. he said the test may. last mth ia move agast nctis byhe u.n. serityouncil. the test may use highly enriched uranium and that pyongyang may even test two bombs simultaneously. he added that after two previous nuclear tests, the north's missile technology is increasingly sophisticated. resc rescue crews are headed for the solomon islands. the waves washed away dozens of homes. six people died. four are missing. the tsunami reached more than 90 centimeters. government officials in the solomons islands say three coastal villages suffered severe

damage. photos taken by world vision show buildings washed away leaving only the foundations behind. spokesperson say the tsunami swept away 100 houses. one photo shows a house full of debris. aftershocks have registered more than five on the richterale. analysts have recorded more than 50 of them. french president has said the fight in mali is not over. but he said some french troops may pull out of the west african country next month if all goes according to plan. islamist insurgents have taken over northern mali. they moved into the colony last month to help stop a rebel offensive. 4,000 personnel joined the mission. many filed alongside malian forces to regain control of northern cities. a government spokesperson said a withdraw would depend on traini malian troops. e frch and the alls continued to run into some

insurgents outside major cities. they got into a fire fight on tuesday. they fear they could creep back into cities they wouldn't held. riots have broken out in tunisia after an official was shot dead. a leading member of the secular popular front party. he suffer is multiple gunshot wounds in the head and chest. the after the arab spring uprising in 2011. he said the culprit will be arrested. the murder sparked protests in tunis and around the country. tunisia has been gripped by instability and economic hardship.

party leaders came to power making promises but they see problems before the arab spring. executives seem happier with the recent economic climate. tell us what's changed. >> we've had a new government in japan and stock prices went higher. all of this seems to be working in the favor of boosting confidence for japan's manufacturing. orders for manufacture chinery third straight month. these factors encourage companies to increase their spending on plant and economic. cabinet officials said domestic firms place orders with machinery makers about $8

billion. the latest figure marks an increase of 2.8% in previous months in yen terms. this is much better than a negative figure that many analysts expected. the increase was mainly due to metal products and telecon equipment. britain's royal bank of scotland has been fined for rigging key interest rates. officials will pay over $600 million. they offered rate as a global bench mark used for monetary transactions. it's calculated for each major currency based on interestates qued b banks. they were manipulated daily for five years. rbs officials say over 20 employees were involved. they say the workers were disciplined or dismissed.

the bank is the third major financial institution to pay big penalties for rigging the benchmark rate. many executives have admitted their staff have engaged in importing. japan's trademark wagyu will be available in the european market of 500 million consumers. the food safety panel agreed on wednesday to allow imports of japanese beef and beef products to its member nations. the upscale beef may reach shops in europe as early as this spring after legal procedures are complete. japan has been urging approval to sell wagyu in europe since 2005 but the decision was put off after an out break of foot

and mouth disease in japan three years ago. the safety of japanese beef has been confirmed internationally. let's get a check on the markets now. tokyo's nikkei is down. it opened slightly lower. it's currently trading at 11,373. a loss of .8 of a percent from wednesday's close. some investors are taking profits while others are buying. they are expecting the next boj governor will take further steps for monetary easing. the dollar is lower against the yen. se sellers are trading to lock in profit. the dollar against the yen trading at 93.36 to 40.

the euro is also lower against the yen. market players are waiting for the policy decision. the euro against the yen is quoted at 126.15 to 20. let's take a look at other markets in the asia pacific. seoul's kospi up at 1,945. australia, the benchmark index is trading higher, 4,923. paneseports have been watching the foreign exchange market every day and they like what they see. the yen's value against the dollar has been sliding since november. staples of japan's economy have benefitting from automaker, so are businesses that produce the basis of what we wear every day. nhk world's lauren lee explains. >> reporter: the yen's decline has opened way for growing

the united states.e fabrics into we're at a fashion show in new york city. the show we're about to see is using a lot of japanese fabrics. the fashion show was held by a high end man's brand in new york. the man's shirt is priced at $290. like many other clothes in this boutique including pants and jackets, the shirt is made with japanese fabrics. fashion brands that use made in japan fabrics are on the rise in new york. >> i've learned about other japanese textiles and in doing that really began to understand why the japanese fabric is so good. >> reporter: japanese textile

makers took part in an international trade show this january. many of them came from the areas in japan known for their textile industry. an advisor for the internal trade organization has been helping small fabric makers from japan promote their products in the u.s. japanese manufacturers have the ability to make high quality fabrics that are soft, yet durable and the lightest in the world. >> translator: we should emphasize the technology that only japan has. japanese fabrics are still competitive in the world. >> reporter: these fabrics are becoming more attractive to u.s. buyers because of the yen's weakness against the dollar. >> with the new prime minister on board, i hope that indeed the

yen will be at a better advantage for american buyers so that we can purchase more from japan. >> reporter: rising fashion designers are trying to expand their brand in the u.s. market. his strategy is to listen carefully to their specific needs and to encourage them to increase textile imports as their sales grow. >> translator: as long as the quality of their products is good, there's no limit to how far sales might grow. >> reporter: mid size japanese fabric makers have been pushing overseas sales to take advantage of the the yen decline. how long c they take advtage of ts situation? lauren lee, nhk world, new york. >> americans will soon be receiving less male on the weekend. official ls at the u.s. postal

service say they will stop delivering letters and postcards on saturday starting in august. they are trying to cut costs. usps officials say the popularity of e-mail has put saturday delivery on the chopping block. the volume of mail decline nearly 40%. online payments are replacing mailed checks. americans will still get packages on saturday. postal workers are shipping more products bought online. the usps logged a $15.9 billion loss in fiscal 2012. health insurance pay outs to retires employees put pressure on the agency's finances. they hope the measure will cut costs worth $2 billion a year but analysts say they need to make bger changes as the lu of ma is expected to decline. that's the latest in business.

thanks very much. japanese businesses are searching for more investment opportunities oversaeas. they're eager to hire more foreign students. a unique fair was held in tokyo. >> reporter: 60 international students from over ten countries attended the job fair on wednesday but they were not there to get interviewed. they came to sell themselves to recruiters in japanese. the students were chosen by a job center to do a six minute presentation. >> translator: after the disaster occurred on march 11, 2011 other foreign students left japan and i continued to stay and became a volunteer.

i'd like to stay in japan to connect people with people. >> reporter: companies are interested in students that understand the japanese language and culture and naturally the customs of the countries where they come from. >> translator: i like japan very much. i want to do a job to introduce japan's techniques and services to other countries. >> reporter: sarah is from malaysia. she's a socialology major. she wants to work for a japanese firm. >> we just listen to what company talk to us, company listen to us. i think through this event i can promote myself to their company. i can have better chance. >> reporter: automakers and logistic companies were interested in talented students from southeast asian countries.

firms are eyeing economic growth and increase in the working population across the region. that's especially as labor costs are on the rise in china. >> translator: we need students that can manage our southeast asian businesses. they need to be able to communicate with our local staff. we need someone who understands both cultures. >> reporter: about one-third of the students that fit the presentation last year were offered jobs. students this year are strongly hoping to find work at the event as well. india is hostinghat organirs claim i the bgest air sh in asia. the trade fair is a chance for local defense and air space companies to prove their new technologies and for the indian government it's an opportunity to show off the rising strength of its armed forces.

the air show kicked off wednesday. >> there's a lot of potential and needs of the the industry. >> much of india's naval and air force hardware dates back to the soviet era. >> we beliefn collaboration and with sfwer nationinternatio working together to make this country strong. >> new delhi has budgeted

through march. observers say there's a risk that india's military expansion may alarm neighboring countries such as china and pakistan. a woman in india is trying to use a traditional dance to bring people of different backgrounds together. she's started practicing this ancient art after she moved from india to japan. >> the dance is characterized by graceful movement. another feature is the postures. the dancers are said to look like moving statues. she has been dancing for 16 years in india. ever since she watched the dance on video during her college da.

after graduation, she moved to india. >> the angle of the neck, the movement of the joints and torso, the details of the face angle and the eye movements. there are so many positions and hand gestures, it was fascinating to see so many elements. >> born in india's eastern state, the dance is said to have its origins and rituals performed for hindu's gods. in fact, many dances are based on hindu myths. when she arrived in india, she enrolled in a dance school. she learned the difficult sandscript language by looking up each new word in the dictionary. she always listened to language tapes, even while sleeping. in 2007, she was the first

japanese to be certified by the indian government as a dancer. now she often performs the dance overseas as a representative of india. >> another country to come to india to learn, being a dancer, i know how much dedication, how much passion it takes, and it's definitely not easy. >> nowadays, she invites artists from across the seas to participate in odissi. she brought indian and japanese dancers, film makers together for a cultural exchange. indian children and professional dancers gave a show.

>> she had been a friend of modern dance. she comes from a different background and feels she brings her own interpretationo the dance. her goal is to make it a site for international exchanges. >> to know each other to start with and in the future we will have much deeper interaction and i hope it will grow with time. >> people agree the japanese and india culture together, it was beautiful. >> translator: i kind of serve

as a bridge between the cultures. at first, it was important to just keep going. but somewhere along the way, it really began to become enjoyable. >> by connecting india and the rest of the world, she is planning an art festival in the fall that includes guests from europe and other countries. >> time to get a check on the weather. people in japan's northern areas >> low pressure system over japan approaches. winter storm advisories are wisely posted. winter storm warnings are in akita prefecture. the blizzard condition is in

store for us today with gusts up to 126 kilometers per hour. across the rest of japan things are looking fine. we saw snow yesterday. it's going to be a very warm and dry day for us. the biting cold dominates much of china. it will still be predominant. e earlier this week they had quite a break there. good weather was keeping people out for this event.

let me show you a video. some cities in china are decorated with lanterns from the coming spring festival. it attracted over 80,000 spectators. the year's them is eco friendly and energy savings. over 180 led lanterns made out of discarded plastic bottles are on display. it will last until february 24th. you can still see the mixed precipitation lingering across the region where that video came out from. it will be clearing out for the weekend. do enjoy that beautiful lantern sight. the temperatures will the dipping down there. about 2 degrees for the high. do bundle up if you're going to go out and about. tokyo we're looking at 14 degrees. that's ten degrees higher. combined with the very chilly winds it's going to be northwesterly winds. it's going to be making you feel

much colder than the actual digits. here in america the topic here for today is this, across the deep south we have the system that will be moving through the area igniting some severe thunderstorms. could be possible which could ignite and capable of unleashing hail. this system develops as it travels to the east. merges with another storm system which is already bringing 20 centimeters of snowfall. it will be bringing historical level of blizzard and winter stor. boston is under this blizzard watch. the worse of the storm will be friday night into saturday morning. 30 to 40 centimeters of snowfall is likely. boston already hitting minus 5. also new york looking at minus

1. here is the extended forecast. that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.